Beyond the cuckoo's nest: Breakthrough Winter 2004

Dispelling the myths of mental illness and addiction with today's youth

It was a cold day last winter when I stepped into an apartment for rent in the Queen Street West neighbourhood. As I glanced around the place, I knew right away that it was the apartment I was looking for: it had high ceilings, a great view of Queen Street and a fabulous deck in the back. I excitedly started talking to the young girl who resided there and asked her about the safety of the neighbourhood. I especially wanted to know if she had felt safe sleeping with her back door open, and if the place had ever been burglarized.

It was at this moment when a woman who was also wandering around looking at the apartment addressed me and said: "Even though I live near the Mental Hospital on Queen, my place has never been broken into!" I instantly realized that this person associated mental illness with criminal behaviour, a perfect example of stigma at work.

Stigma continues to be a huge problem for people living with a mental illness. Despite the fact that one in four Canadians will experience a form of mental illness at least once during his or her lifetime, it remains the least understood -- and most feared -- illness among the general public. This is why programs like CAMH's Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest and Talking About Mental Illness were developed through CAMH's broader public education efforts to give youth and the public accurate information about addiction and mental illness to help dispel myths and misconceptions that continue to surround these problems.

Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest was developed by nurse case managers in 1988 at what was formerly the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (now the College Street site of CAMH). The weekly program is taught by mental health professionals in collaboration with several courageous 'co-educators,' people who have lived with a form of mental illness, who tell their story, sometimes accompanied by a family member, in front of up to 200 high school students from all across Ontario. I was eager to attend a Tuesday morning session to observe how senior students would respond.

The auditorium seats filled quickly with the youthful energy of the students and their excited buzz died down as soon as the introductory movie began. Students watched, listened and learned about various psychiatric illnesses and the issues surrounding them. Following the screening, the audience was engaged by the nurse practitioners who answered a series of true and false questions with examples of typical stereotypes on several topics including addiction, depression, anorexia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

After a short break, the students returned to experience the most memorable part of the program: the co-educators were about to share their personal stories.

Lee, a woman who is diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, Jay, who lives with schizophrenia and Tija, who also has schizophrenia, all shared their experiences living with mental illness and the impact their illness has had on their personal, family and social lives.

The interest and respect with which the audience listened to the co-educators reflected in the questions and comments the students shared during the face-to face interaction. Some of the questions asked by the students were very personal and challenging. Lee, Tija and Jay empowered themselves by assuming the healthy role of becoming educators. They bravely answered the students' questions, knowing that their stories will teach youth that people with mental illness aren't violent, uncontrollable criminals the media have made them out to be.

The last task of the morning consisted of a role-playing and an imagery exercise, to help students imagine what it may be like to have a mental illness. It was obvious from the comments students made as they left the session that it had made a huge impact on their understanding of mental illness.

Talking About Mental Illness is a program that was developed to further the reach and delivery of this important de-stigmatizing message. Drawing on the successful experience of Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest, three organizations (The Canadian Mental Health Association, The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario and CAMH) came together to develop a community guide to empower community coalitions with the tools needed to develop awareness programs across Ontario. A teacher resource guide was also created to provide ideas and activities for incorporating mental health education into the classroom.

Fighting stigma is part of the day-to-day efforts mental health care providers' face in helping people recover from their illness. Stereotypes undermine a person's sense of self worth, well being and prospects for recovery. Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest and Talking About Mental Illness both encourage compassion and understanding by transferring the essential knowledge and personal experiences of survivors to the public.

In the end, as I watched the packed auditorium file out into the hallway, I wondered how many of these students were the 'one in four' whose lives are touched or will be touched by mental illness. The hope is that this message has reached them, and they will find the courage and the support of their friends and family, to come forward and not to hesitate to access the help available to them should they or their family members ever need it.

For further information about Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest:
Tel. (416) 535-8501 ext. 4847
Fax. (416) 979-6936

To book a session contact:
Tel. (416) 535-8501 ext. 4841
Fax. (416) 979-6936

For further information about Talking About Mental Illness click here.

To order hard copies of the Talking About Mental Illness resource guides contact: Call toll free in North America 1-800-661-1111 or local in Toronto (416) 595-6059

To download the Talking About Mental Illness resource guide click here.